Country pub of the week: The Badger Inn, Carbis Bay, Cornwall

The Badger Inn is sandwiched between St Ives and Hayle in West Cornwall, on a winding, hilly coastal road above stone harbours and broiling sea.

Built as the Lelant Arms in 1899, the pub has served thousands of local folk, from fishermen to miners, not to mention the stream of tourists who flock to Cornwall each year. There’s one former patron that eclipses all: Virginia Woolf who visited on Christmas Eve in 1909.

She wrote to her artist sister, Vanessa Bell: “I am so drugged with fresh air I can’t write, and now my ink fails. As for the beauty of this place, it surpasses every other season. I have the hotel to myself — and get a very nice sitting room for nothing. It is very comfortable and humble.”

Tread in Woolf’s footsteps and find good ales and hefty sandwiches that would replenish anyone after a long walk or swim.